Team Octopi

Local FTC students continue journey to state championships

January 8, 2014

Last November, Pine Island's robotics team "Team Octopi" scored fourth place competing against 17 teams at South Fort Myers High School in the First Tech Challenge (FTC). When the results were calculated statewide, Team Octopi placed 13th out of nearly 100 robotics teams in the state. The top 24 go to the state championship!

FTC is designed for students in grades 712. Teams are responsible for designing, building and programming robots in a variety of languages to compete against other teams.

Article Photos

"What we do is design, build and program the robot to perform the tasks of 'the game,'" Tedlie said. "What I mean by 'the game' is the set of tasks each robot is required to accomplish. Teams are scored on how well their robots perform.

"This wouldn't be possible without the Beacon of H.O.P.E.," Tedlie said. "This year we became a Beacon of H.O.P.E. / United Way Community Program. They've given us all the support we could possibly hope for. We were also aided by the Pine Island Moose, Matlacha Hookers, Kiwanis, American Legion and the Bobby Holloway Memorial Fund. Everyone has been so helpful and the team is very grateful for this oppoprtunity."